Learning to be a Malfoy
by Netrixie
Summary: HIATUS After Voldemort's defeat, the Ministry enacts the Marriage Law. Many people are inconvenienced by this. This is the story of Hermione Granger and Lucius Malfoy. Also drabbles of a Drarry. M for later chapters/language.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: As always. It's all J.K.'s

Prologue: That which comes before (in any case, this is the story of Volders' defeat).

There were many broken days and nights  
where all that we could do was fight

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Included below (for your information) is an excerpt from the book "Annals of the Past" c. 2050 by Herb Sadlt Mhminh, a noted historian.

"…And in those days of Strife and Peril, a Hero arose from the ashes of the Evil One's failure. He was called Boy- Who- Lived, as indeed he had. So the Boy, whose Rightful name was Harry Potter, grew up in the seclusion of a Muggle neighborhood, not Knowing that He was the Chosen One, Destined to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort, whose Name is Now spoken with ease, due to this Boy's courage. But, alas, I speak of Events that have not yet Passed in my Tale.

Let me proceed.

We all know the Story of this Boy's Courage and Valor in defeating The Dark One many times Before the Final Battle. What I bring to You is the True Tale of the Final year of the Dark One, told to me as Fact from the Lips of the Boy himself, now a Man. As such, the Facts I am about to Present to you are Indisputable and should be Regarded as Words from God. The Tale is as follows.

In his Sixth Year at that Estimable institution of Learning, Hogwarts, the Boy was a much Sought after Mate, despite the Fact that he was a Man Wanted by the Dark One, and yet he Spurned all advances. The Witch then known as Hermione Granger was the First to figure out Why the Boy was being so dismissive of the offers. In the Previous year, the Notable and most Honorable and Ancient Family of Malfoy defected from the Dark Ones camp, coming to Join the Notorious Order of the Phoenix . There was much Contestation in the Ministry and the Groups of those who Supported Harry Potter. But under the Effect of Four drops of Veritaserum, the Malfoy Family was Exonerated of all charges Pertaining to Working as Death Eaters (the fanciful Name of those who followed Voldemort).

Smart witch that she was, Miss Granger soon Figured out the following- that Harry Potter was in Love with Draco Lucius Malfoy, the son of the ex- Death Eater. Of course, upon Discovery of this Information, Hermione Granger immediately Confronted the Boy, and found to her Astonishment that this was Indeed the Truth.

And in the November of that year, Harry James Potter and Draco Lucius Malfoy started Going out, unbeknownst to their Colleagues, indeed known only to the Intelligent Hermione Granger, from Whom neither Could Keep a Secret.

The Order of the Phoenix Flourished that Year, pulling in More Members than had Previously been Recorded. The head of the Malfoy Family, Lucius Cassius Malfoy, was Residing at the Fabled Number 12 Grimmauld Place with his Son, who had been Pulled out of school for Fear of Voldemort. The Christmas of that Year there were many Families in Residence at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, including Miss Hermione Granger, the Entirety of the Weasley Family, and (of course) Harry Potter himself.

It was at this Time that the Father of Draco Malfoy Understood the Relationship between his Son and the Boy- Who- Lived. He was Not particularly Shocked at his Sons choice, privately, he Knew that his Son would Not settle for anyone Less. Needless to say, no one Found Out about the Secret Relationship from Draco's Father. Lucius Malfoy also had another Calling while in Hiding. Merely by accident, he had Found that Miss Granger was Highly Competent with Battle Magic, and he had taken it Upon himself to teach her that Art. She became very Skilled in that Field.

Let me Digress from my tale for but a Moment, as I have Remembered a Fact that could be Considered Important to the Telling of this Tale. The late wife of Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy nee Black, had Run off with a Detestable Rouge known as Vincent Crabbe Sr. in the beginning of the Month of October. Unfortunately (or, as I, the author say, 'fortunately), the Estranged wife was Murdered by the Dark One for her lack of Loyalty to her husband- because if She could not show Loyalty to her Husband, then How was she Expected to be Loyal to her Lord? This was, if I may Again Digress, before The Malfoy's had Defected.

My sincerest Apologies, it seems that I Must keep getting Distracted by the Details. I will now return to the Tale.

The New Year passed without much Ado from the Followers of the Evil One, but in the month of February a Strange new thing Happened. The Boy- Who- Lived was Tired of keeping his Relationship a Secret and had Announced it to the World at Large. This being Anathema to the Dark Ones plans, Voldemort immediately Doubled his efforts to Destroy the Boy.

In the Intervening months between That Announcement and the Defeat of Voldemort, the attacks became More and More violent and Bloody, and more and more Innocent people Died at The Dark Ones Hands. Then in the April of that Year, Hogwarts Offered its students a Choice; either Stay in the Castle, or Return to their Families and join the Rest of the Wizarding World in Hiding. Not Surprisingly, most of the Older Students Chose to remain Behind and Fight. The younger students were not Given the Choice to Fight, but Somehow in the Last Battle, many ended up Fighting anyway.

In June the Final Battle took place. It was Told to me by Harry Potter that that morning Started out like Any other in the Past few months. Then, around Noon , the voice of Lord Voldemort rang from The Heavens telling the People of Hogwarts to hand over their Savior, and they Would all Live. Needless to say, Nothing of the Sort happened.

Thus Infuriated, the Dark Lord started the Attack on the school. For Three Full days the air was full of Curses and Hexes the like that No one had Ever seen Before. There is a Tale of Hermione Granger, one that says that she was Struck by two Killing Curses at the Same time, and Lived. But she has neither Confirmed nor Denied my questioning. Yet I believe it. If anyone could Survive two Killing Curses, it is that Formidable Lady.

On the Third Day of Battle, The Dark Lord sought out Harry Potter, and Engaged him in a duel. At some point, both Wands were Blown out of their Hands and they each Took another Wizards wand, though Harry Borrowed Draco's wand with his Permission, while Voldemort just Pulled one out of the Hand of a Follower. Their Private Battle was Waged over the Course of two hours, as both Opponents were evenly Matched. At the End of the Battle (though no one knew it was almost over at that time), both shouted "_Expelliarmus!" _ Wands went Flying out of Hands, and Draco and Harry (as they told me) had the Same Idea. Grabbing Harry's wand, they Picked it up at the Same time and both Shouted "_Adava Kedavra_!" The Dark One fell down, Dead at long Last.

His followers, Seeing this, dropped their Weapons and Either turned and ran, or Surrendered. The Order had won the day, and Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy had Saved us All.

This is where I will end this Section, Good Readers, for We all know how this story ends.

Now I will move on to the Tale of Dumbledore the Great, the Mastermind behind the Order of the Phoenix …"

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A/N: This tidbit of information was provided to inform the reader of past events that really have no bearing at all on the rest of the story. Cudo's if you get the authors name.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: It's all J.K.'s.

A/N: I re- posted this chapter because I thought that the last one didn't go as in depth into the characters as I wanted. So please don't kill me, I'm sure this version is better than the last one.

All thanks to my beta darkmosmordreheart- read her stuff!!!

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Hermione was freezing. She was sitting in the Gryffindor Common room and she was _cold_. It didn't matter that it was the last day of school before Graduation, or that she had the fire going right in front of her, or that she had a blanket wrapped around her, she was cold. And she couldn't get warm. So when Harry ran through the portrait on his way to his dorm, she called him to her, over his protestations, and said "Put a warming charm on me. Please. I know you're busy, but I'm really cold." It was annoying, but there was no helping it.

When two spells hit you with their combined power, through two Protego's _and a_ ward, something was bound to go wrong. In her case, it had left her with sudden unexpected bouts of being friggin' cold, and the inability to experience a hangover. The latter was not an unwelcome happening, but if she could have gotten away with neither of them, she would have been happy. If anyone knew what the spells were, maybe they could reverse it, but as it was… Warming charms were the best at keeping the cold at bay when it hit, but Hermione was the worst in the class at casting them. So she'd trained Draco and Harry to cast them for her. It was annoying for the two boys, but they would really do anything Hermione asked of them, so they didn't complain. Much. 

Harry huffed, but pulled his wand out anyway and cast the strongest warming charm he'd ever learned (and he knew a lot of them, having been friends with Hermione for a long time, after all), said, "I'm running, late, Draco's waiting, we're going to Hogsmeade, see you later." After that he ran off, feeling that his duty to inform Hermione of his every move was fulfilled, and disappeared into his dorm, reappearing a few minutes later with a bag and a book. "Later, 'Mione," and vaulted back out the doorway. 

Hermione just sighed and shook her head. Harry was always in a hurry these days, either playing Quidditch, or going out with Draco. Since the defeat of the Dark Lord a year earlier, they had been almost inseparable. It was cute, but sometimes they were disgustingly sweet and unnecessarily sappy. But almost everyone was happy for them. They both deserved a chance at a Happy Ever After.

Hermione went back to reading her book. It was called "The Curative and Restorative Powers of Belladonna and Hemlock", and she'd received it in the mail that morning. She didn't know who had sent it to her, but she would ever be grateful. It was the funniest stupid thing she'd ever read. Written in 1056 A.D. by Imiss Ledya, it was a Medieval Treatise on how the two most poisonous plants known to man (either Wizarding _or_ Muggle) could heal most of the diseases and pains of the human body. It was a juvenile and not- well- researched novel, but it was a very rare tome. There were only 12 copies still in existence, and only 4 of them were in England. So Hermione had no idea how she had been chosen to be the recipient of this rare item, but she wasn't complaining.

She was still reading it when Harry and Draco came back into the Common room three hours later. She had just gotten up to the section that dealt with feminine problems, and was currently reading the part dedicated to the relief of menstrual cramps. There was a vague warning; a 'too much belladonna will result in death' sort of thing, but the entire concoction will kill its victim anyway, just very slowly, and after eliminating the cramps. Because the first thing belladonna does is kill the nerve endings. When Harry and Draco came into the room, she was laughing so hard the tears were running down her face. The boys looked at each other and shrugged before Draco noticed the title of the book. "Hey," he asked "Where'd you get that?"

Hermione stopped laughing long enough to wipe the tears from her face before answering him. "Oh, I don't know, I got it in the mail this morning." The book was lying open on her lap while she laughed, so Draco took the opportunity to reach over and snag it from her. He flipped through it, noting the part where she had been reading, and a smile broke out on his face. "You got up to the 'relief of menstrual cramps' part, didn't you?" Hermione nodded, before she caught his words and asked, "How do you know what's in the book?" Draco smiled. "My father owns two of them. At least, he did." Hermione's mouth was hanging open in shock. "These books are _expensive_," she said, "I doubt even a Malfoy could afford two of them."

"See, that's where you're mistaken, Ms. Granger. He didn't buy them, they're family heirlooms. They've been in the family for generations." He noticed that Hermione was giving him the _I keep forgetting that you're a Malfoy _look that so many who'd gotten to know him had perfected. Then Hermione caught on to the rest of his sentence. "What do you mean 'he _had_ two of them'?" Draco smirked, and flipped to the back page, where an inscription had been added. "_To Ms. Granger,"_ he read, "_I saw this book in my library and thought that you would enjoy it. Read it in good health._" Draco held the book down so that it was level with Hermione's face and pointed to the words, "That's my fathers' handwriting. I would recognize it anywhere."

Hermione stared in shock at the writing in front of her. Draco and Harry smirked to each other, imagining what she was thinking. What they didn't expect was for her to whip her head around and say in an accusing voice "Your father _wrote_ in this book? Doesn't he know how priceless it is?" The boys just looked at each other before bursting out in laughter. Her reaction was not what they had been expecting (something more along the lines of 'does your father have a crush on me?' was what they _had_ been waiting for), but this was what they _should _have expected. This was Hermione. And, after all, a leopard does not easily change her spots.

The boys went up to hand out in Harry's room for the last hour before dinner, and Hermione went back to her book.

An hour or so later, the three of them went down to dinner, where Hermione was immediately accosted by Ron. "Hi there, Hermione. What's up with you today?" Draco and Harry closed ranks around Hermione, trying to brush him off, but Ron was persistent. "What? Why can't I talk to my friend?" Harry, who was very protective of Hermione, growled "Because you're not her friend. Get out of here before I rip your throat out." Ron backed away, hands raised in what he thought was a playful gesture. "Alright, alright. No need to get fussy." He turned away, and the rest of the students in the Great Hall went back to pretending they hadn't heard the conversation.

Draco herded Hermione to their spot at Gryffindor table (today was Gryffindor's day, they switched to Slytherin every other day), and sat her down, glaring around the room in warning before taking his place next to her.

"He doesn't learn, does he?" Ginny asked as she took her place across from Draco. Harry plopped down next to Hermione on the other side and reached for the food that had just appeared. "He's a git, an asshole, and a bastard who deserves to die." He said before shoving his mouth full of the yams he had grabbed. Hermione was quiet, trying to get over the encounter. She was still shaking when she reached across Harry for the buttered corn. The others politely didn't notice her shaking, instead continuing their conversation. "Why did Dumbledore allow him to stay?" Ginny asked. "You mean you don't know?" Draco replied, before he remembered. "Right, you weren't with us when he explained. Harry, will you do the honors?"

The brunette took a last mouthful before putting down his fork. Swallowing, he said "Dumbledore said that because nothing actually happened and because nothing could be proved, that they would have to keep him in the school because they had no grounds to kick him out. And because there were only two months left at that point." Hermione just ate steadily while they talked. She'd (kind of) gotten used to them discussing this while they pretended she wasn't there, but she never actually had an active participation in their discussions. Ginny nodded, but looked ready to murder someone. Her next words confirmed this thought. "I never thought I would want to be the one to wring my brother's neck, but lately," she trailed off as everyone at their section of the table nodded in agreement.

"And what's the worst thing about it is that my, well, _his_ parents support him entirely. It's enough to make me sick. At least he got his Prefect's badge stripped from his record, and enough demerits to make Tom Riddle look like a good person." Ginny was about to continue when Hermione, tired of the conversation, shot her a pleading glance. Ginny backed down and looked at the other meaningfully. They understood, and changed the topic to their upcoming Graduation.

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The next morning dawned bright and early, and the Gryffindor Common room was full to the brim with students in their finery and Professor McGonagall in her best teaching robes. They were eventually herded down to the Great Hall where their parents and Guardians were, and sat at their House tables, Draco and Harry giving each other meaningful glances as they parted. The students sat down and the murmur of conversation stopped when Dumbledore rose to speak to the crowd.

Dumbledore smiled sown upon his students before starting. "My dear children, it is so good to see all of you here today, alive and well." The crowd murmured- some of them almost hadn't made it through the war. He continued after quelling the conversations. "We have been through great trials as a group, but we have come out on top. We have had to make friends, and loose them. We have gone through so much more than any year previous, and I am glad to say that I was here with you, just to watch old rivalries be overcome-" he stopped for a moment as the entire student body turned to look at Harry and Draco, but continued shortly- "and walls be torn down, hopefully never to be resurrected. I am so proud of all of you, and you all deserve recognition. But I will not cloud this time of celebration with the clumsy words of an old man, but-" Dumbledore was drowned out by the cries and catcalls of the students, each of them a reaction to his statement of being an old man, but he just silenced them with a look- "_but,_ I want to wish all of you long, happy, fruitful lives. Go now, Graduates of Hogwarts, and live the rest of your lives."

At the traditional farewell words, the students stood as one and shouted out the last thing they would say as students of Hogwarts "_So long, farewell, and May God Bless this school!" _Then it was chaos. Students swarmed each other, parents, guardians, brothers, sisters and strangers. No one was safe from all the well wishing. Hermione found her mother standing with Fred and George (who she was living with), and ran over to hug her. "Hi, mom! I didn't think you would be able to make it! C'mon, I want you to meet Draco." With that she dragged her mother over to where Draco, Harry, Sirius, Remus, Lucius, and Ginny were standing.

When the introductions were over, they all left the school to go out to eat. They'd made the plans _ages_ ago, and the graduates were beyond ecstatic upon being released forever from Hogwarts. The eight of them had made reservations at some swanky place in Diagon Alley that the Malfoy's frequented. The conversation was eclectic, varying from how Hermione's mother came to live with Fred and George (they had offered to give her a room at their place because they secretly thought that as a Muggle she would have great ideas for their joke shop. They were right), to how Dumbledore might retire as Headmaster in a couple of years. Almost everyone scoffed at this ludicrous idea, but many privately believed it. He was getting old, after all, and the strain of the battle had been hard on him.

They were there for about four hours, just talking like the friends they were. They all had a good time, and at the end Sirius, Harry, and Lucius were fighting over the bill. Well, not in Lucius' case. He was very persuasively and calmly telling the manager that if he didn't put the tab on the Malfoy account, he would tell the entire Wizarding World that the Smoking Dragon was the worst eatery in the world. This was all in the calmest, most self assured voice that anyone could muster up. Needless to say, the Malfoy's footed the bill and everyone went to their respective homes, after agreeing that they would get together again sometime. It was hard to tell if Lucius had had a good time, but as he hadn't dragged Draco away in disgust, and had in fact forced them to let him pay the bill, everyone figured he wasn't totally repulsed by them.

Ms. Jane Granger walked to her place (above Weasleys Wizard Wheezes) after saying good bye to Hermione. She was tense and silent, thinking about how Hermione's father should have been there. He had been killed by Voldemorts henchmen in the early stages of the war on the off chance that it would get Harry to make a stupid decision. It had almost worked, but his friends and family had held him back. So Hermione didn't argue when her mother left almost without a word to her when she went to go home. She didn't know that someone would be waiting for her mother to comfort her when she got there.

Hermione had made plans to live with the Sirius, Remus, and Harry at Number 12 Grimmauld Place for a week or so after graduation, just so she could get settled into the life of a free, Wizarding adult, and so that she could look for a job in comfort. She didn't really want to go live with her mother, and her mother really didn't want her daughter in the same house as her for any extended period of time. It wasn't that Jane didn't want her daughter near her; it was just that Hermione looked too much like her father for Jane's comfort. And Jane wanted to be able to pursue her new- found feelings for the new man in her life without the distraction of a teenage daughter.

And Harry would be living with Sirius and Hermione and Remus while he and Draco decided what they were going to do with their relationship. This didn't bother Hermione in the least, because Draco and Harry had always been there for her, and she wanted them around whenever she got the chance. Even if it was only one at a time.

When they got to 12 Grimmauld Place, Hermione was settled into her room by Remus while Harry and Sirius had a 'talk' down in the kitchen. While Hermione wasn't supposed to know what they were talking about, she had the _very_ informed opinion that it would be about Harry and Draco and Sirius and Remus' relationships. Specifically, the limits of what was going to take place behind closed doors. She heard the shout of laughter from the kitchen and raised her eyebrow at Remus. He flushed and said, "Well, they're supposed to be having a _serious_ talk."

When Hermione was settled, she wandered down to the kitchen, where the conversation was apparently finished. They talked and laughed, and were starting to make dinner (because they had given Kreacher the day off in celebration) when Dumbledore's voice came from the fireplace. "Hello?" When they answered, he continued. "I don't mean to be intrusive, but do you mind if I call a last meeting of the Order for tomorrow, to meet at your house? It will just be secretarial stuff, nothing more. I'll try to keep it as short as I can."

They all agreed that it would be great to have Ginny, Fred, George, Tonks, Snape, Lucius, Neville, and Luna there with them for a bit. They very carefully didn't mention Molly, Arthur, or Ron. It was still a touchy subject that they were still considered members of the Order. Dumbledore's reasoning was that they had fought against Voldemort in the War, so they should be allowed to participate in the meetings. So with that (almost) settled, they continued planning their meal, not giving tomorrow any more thought than what to feed everyone, and where they were going to put them.

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A/N: Please don't kill me, I like my life… and chapter 2 will be up shortly!! Promise!

Review?


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: it's all J.K.'s. I try to live with that fact, but sometimes it's just so hard…. Sob

My beta is wonderful darkmosmordreheart- read her stuff!!

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Hermione was still sleeping when the first Order member came through the fireplace the next morning. It was with a loud _thump _and it woke her right up. With a groan, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. It had been a long night, and she'd only gotten to bed at midnight (she's never realized before what party animals Sirius, Remus, and Harry were), and at around two in the morning had been struck with one of the worst cold- times since it this stupid thing had begun. As best as she could with her toes and extremities freezing, she'd made her way to Harry's bedroom and had climbed into the bed with him, wrapping her body around his in a attempt to get some of his body heat. He'd woken up immediately once her frozen body had touched his, and with a whispered _"Fuck, Hermione," _had cast a warming charm on her. It had taken a while for the charm to work its magic on her tired body, but once it had, she was able to get out of his bed and go back to her own.

Hermione hated the fact that she couldn't take care of herself, and that she had to go to the boys whenever she needed to get a warming charm cast on her. This was one of the reasons she was currently living with Harry, actually. Only Draco, Harry, and Dumbledore knew that she was vulnerable in this way, but that didn't make her feel any better. In fact, the fact that _anyone_ other than the boys had to know was a continual thorn in her side.

But she rolled out of bed and put her game face on. Today she had to face the rest of the Weasley clan, the ones that she couldn't stand. Fred, George, Ginny, Percy, Bill, and Charlie were fine, but the parents and Ron were the ones everyone had a problem with. Even their other children couldn't stand them anymore, because they'd sided with their youngest son when all the evidence pointed to the fact that he had tried to- Hermione cut off her own train of thought. _I do not need to deal with this right now. I do not need to remember that right now, I have better things to do._ Her mantra almost worked, and she pushed the thought away as she got up to get changed.

When she got downstairs, Severus, Tonks, Ginny, Mad- Eye, Dung, Sirius, Harry, Draco, Lucius, Remus, Dumbledore, and Minerva were already there. They had to wait another fifteen minutes before Molly, Arthur, and Ron showed up. While they waited (Dumbledore wouldn't let them start the meeting without the tardy members), they just sat and socialized. Severus and Lucius sat in one corner of the room, both wearing identical expressions of boredom, Draco was sitting with Harry talking animatedly about their favorite Quidditch teams, Dumbledore and Minerva were trying to keep order while Ginny, Tonks, and Dung were trying to create chaos (they were really bored), and Sirius, Remus and Mad- Eye talked about Muggle news. Hermione came down and sat in a corner by herself, but with Lucius and Severus on one side and Harry and Draco on her other.

She'd done it on purpose, because there were no open seats anywhere near the people she'd sat next to so the other Weasleys couldn't sit anywhere near her. Lucius noticed this, and was contemplating leaning over to talk to his one- time pupil when the crash from the fireplace brought all conversation to a halt. Harry and Draco straightened up and almost imperceptibly moved closer to Hermione. Lucius noticed this and made a mental note to ask his son what was going on after they'd left for the day.

Molly, Arthur, and Ron took the only open seats (on the far side of the room) and the meeting started in earnest. "Alright," Dumbledore said as he stood up, "first, thank you to our hosts for letting us use their home." Everyone turned to Sirius and Remus, who nodded stiffly. Their home was chosen for another reason other than the most obvious one, it was still unplottable, and hidden from prying eyes. Dumbledore continued. "The first order of business is as follows. There are still over three hundred Death Eaters on the loose, and the Ministry is convinced that we can help find them. So here's what they want us to do..."

The meeting continued on that strain for some time, Hermione losing interest about an hour before noon. The rest of the audience quickly followed suit. Dumbledore, catching on to the fact that he had lost his audience, stopped talking and said, "I guess it's time for lunch. I know I lost your attention a long time ago" a few of the members looked sheepish "so I guess we'll all reconvene here in about an hour and a half."

Molly, Arthur, and Ron stood up immediately; they knew that they weren't wanted. They left, or so everyone thought, but Arthur remained behind, He wanted to talk to Hermione, and he wanted to do it privately. Sirius and Remus disappeared to their room, Harry and Draco doing the same. Severus and Tonks left at about the same time, and Minerva and Dumbledore had to go back to the Castle to take care of some business. Ginny went to her brothers' joke shop, and Mad- Eye grabbed Dung to get some information out of him at the Ministry Headquarters for Aurors.

Hermione relocated to the sitting room, and Lucius (who had his own set of rooms in the house from his days of hiding from the Dark Lord) went to his own private sitting room. So Hermione was alone when Arthur decided that now would be a good time to talk to her.

He walked into the sitting room and said "Hermione, can I talk to you?" Hermione almost jumped out of her skin. She looked around the room furtively, looking for someone, _anyone,_ so that she didn't have to be alone with this man. But everyone was gone, so she turned to him and said "Of course, Arthur. How can I help you?"

He came over and sat on the opposite side of the couch from her. "Well, Hermione, I have a problem. I've heard many differing points of view on the subject, but I'm just not sure who to believe. So I've come to you hoping that you can tell me the truth. What happened that night?"

Hermione was silent. She really didn't want to talk about this with him, and she really didn't want to be alone with him. So she took the middle road. "I'm sorry, Arthur, but I really do not want to talk about it right now." She stood and started to walk towards the door, intent on getting to Harry and Draco, because even if they were in a rather compromising position, right now she didn't care; she only wanted to get away. "If you would excuse me, I have to be going-" she trailed off as Arthur lurched off the couch and came at her. Hermione's heart started acting up, and her breath got shallow.

"Where do you think you're going, Ms. Granger? You haven't answered my question. You're not being very polite, you know." He stepped near her, and she backed away. Her mind was full of conflicting images. Arthur coming at her was overlapped by the image of Ron coming at her. His words were overlapped by the memory of what Ron's words_ "You're my girlfriend. You _have _to." _Her breath hitched as she thought, _Oh, no, not him too._ She backed up, then turned and ran out the door. She ran blindly, hearing Arthur curse and start to run after her. She went up the stairs at a full sprint, and opened the first door she came to, and barreled into Lucius.

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Lucius had been eating his light lunch and reading the Daily Prophet when he heard someone running up the stairs. Frowning slightly, he put down the paper and the watercress sandwich. _Do these people have no manners? You shouldn't _run_ up stairs._ He walked over to the door, intent on giving that someone a rather large piece of his mind when his door was flung open and Hermione Granger slammed into his chest. "Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy-" she said as she placed his body between herself and the open door. "What on earth is going on, Ms. Granger?" he asked turning to face her, but her pale, scared face made him turn to look at the open door. His eyebrows flew up into his hairline when he saw who was standing there.

"If it isn't Arthur Weasley. I thought you'd already left." Lucius' frozen voice made Arthur flinch, but then his gaze went back to Hermione. She flinched when those eyes full of hatred landed on her. "You little bitch," Arthur's words came at her with the fury of a Killing Curse, and she flinched as each one struck her. "You reject my son, and then you go and hide behind _him_? He was right; you are nothing more than a little slut…" Lucius, though he had no idea what the crazy idiot was referring to, had had enough. "Get out." Arthur didn't even look at him, but continued his cursing and degradation of Hermione. "You chose this _Death Eater_ over my son? You choose to hide and not answer my very reasonable question? Do you think that you're that much better than everyone else? Well, then you're in good company with this pureblood asshole"-

"I. Said. _Get. Out."_ Lucius' voice was silent, but it succeeded in its task. Arthur stopped in the middle of his tirade to look at Lucius in hatred. "I can't believe that you would defend this cock- sucking, no good street- whore. You're not actually a true Pureblood, are you? Defending a _Mudblood_." The sarcasm was heavy in his voice.

Lucius ignored the little voice in the back of his head that was telling him _manhandling someone is not proper for a Wizard of your Pedigree _when he grabbed the front of Arthur's shirt and dragged him down the stairs, and the racket he was making got the lovebirds to get out of their nests and open their doors to watch in amazement as they saw Lucius throw the man out of the house, and spell it so that he would no longer be able to enter it.

They fell into the hallway as he came back up the stairs. "What happened?" Sirius asked. For Lucius to use his hands and _not _magic to get rid of someone was unheard of. But Lucius didn't answer. He turned to look at Hermione, whose head was sticking out of his door, to see if he should tell them. The tiny head shake was all the answer he needed, so he merely replied "You should make sure your house is rid of interlopers before going to enjoy yourselves." Sirius flushed, and looked away. While they got along normally, Lucius still took any chance he could get to make him feel like a fool. Remus pulled Sirius behind him before saying to Lucius "Thank you for taking care of it." And he pushed Sirius back into their room and shut the door.

Lucius turned to look at his son, but his son just inclined his head in acknowledgement and pulled Harry back into their room. Lucius, alone in the hallway, turned his attention back to Hermione. She still hadn't left his doorway, so he offered "You may stay, if you wish to." It was obviously what she had been waiting for, because she turned and disappeared into his room. When he entered the room, he closed the door softly behind him before turning to face her. "Would you like anything to eat?" at her timid nod, he gestured to the plate. "Help yourself." He sat down where had been and picked his paper up and continued reading.

Hermione reached out and took a sandwich delicately. Her heart was still hammering in her ears, but she was starting to get control of her voice. She bit into the sandwich, and _hummed_ softly in appreciation. It was a really good sandwich, and pretty much the only thing she had been able to get down all day.

Lucius watched her covertly. She was shaking, and seemed to be truly frightened of Arthur Weasley. She looked like a scared rabbit, or like someone who had just had their worst nightmare come to life. He didn't understand. This was the smartest witch in her class (according to his son), and had in fact graduated as the Wizarding equivalent of valedictorian. He didn't understand her attitude. She had learned battle magic from him, and she had not even shown this level of fear when facing Voldemorts Armies. He waited a few more minutes before putting his paper down and regarding her.

When she looked up, it was to look straight into Lucius Malfoy's eyes. She gulped down her last bite, and settled her hands in her lap. They just looked at each other for a few more moments before Lucius spoke. "Do you want any more? Take as much as you want." She shook her head. If she ate anything more, she'd be sick. Lucius continued. "Then may I ask what happened?"

Hermione breathed in a deep breath, and then blew it out in a huge sigh. "I had been going out with Ron for a little under a year, as you know." He nodded his head. _What did this have to do with it? _"So, we went to Hogsmeade on a date, and it was really romantic. So afterwards we were walking back to Hogwarts and he, well, you know, he decided to be a real gentleman, or something. He was telling me how much he loved me, and you know- I should have known then.

But it was great to have someone tell me that who wasn't Harry or my mom, so I just went with it. And then he got all touchy feely, and he started to kiss me. Which was great, in my opinion, but then he decided that he was going to start touching me and not stop when I told him to." Her voice trailed off. Lucius was _furious._ No one should be taken advantage of like that.

Hermione was lost in the memory at this point, and kept speaking. "He told me that it was my duty as his girlfriend, and that saying 'No' was not an option. He was pushing me back against the tree when Harry and Draco came by. Later they told me that they'd been looking for a suitable place to be alone, and they heard my voice, raised, like I was in trouble. Which I was. He'd taken my wand out of my hand and thrown it away, and he had me pinned. His hand was… under… my skirt… and when Harry and Draco saw that they almost killed him before they came to their senses and brought me to the hospital wing, leaving him bound and gagged at the door to Dumbledore's office."

Her voice trailed off, and she seemed to shrink into herself. Lucius was shaking with a fury he hadn't felt since he'd been tricked into serving the Dark Lord. But he brought his voice under control before he said "That's why Harry and Draco are so protective of you. Isn't it?"

"Yes. They are rather protective, aren't they?"

"I'm glad they are. Otherwise the Weasel would've gotten away with it." Lucius' tone left Hermione in no doubt as to what he would do the next time he had one of those Weasleys in his sight. Then she blushed, mortified. She'd just spilled her deepest secret to a man more than twice her age. Granted, she respected him more than almost anyone else she knew (right up there with Severus), but, really. How embarrassing. Lucius saw her face flame, and guessed the reason behind it. "Do not be ashamed of what happened. It is he who should be ashamed- and afraid to show his face. Don't worry about it- what goes around, comes around. He'll get his due."

They sat in a companionable silence for the rest of the lunch hour, and only when Dumbledore was heard downstairs wondering where everyone was did anyone leave their rooms. The meeting resumed, and the only member who wasn't present was Arthur Weasley. He didn't seem to be able to get into the house. He was at the door, demanding to be let in, saying that it was his right, and is this the way the Order treats their members? Dumbledore asked for an explanation, but when he was given five black looks from Harry, Draco, Sirius, Remus, and (surprisingly) Lucius _and_ _a_ "Don't ask," he dropped it.

The meeting continued till dinner, and Dumbledore begged Sirius and Remus' forgiveness for having to extend the meeting for another day. "I'm truly sorry to impose on you for another day, but we still have things to cover. Do you mind-?" They _did_ mind, but Remus was polite enough to nod and say "It's no problem, really."

The house felt empty when everyone left. Hermione locked herself in her room- but her wards were set to know Harry and Draco- so perhaps it wasn't as effective as she would have liked, because they came into her room about an hour later and sat on the edge of her bed. "What happened?" Draco asked first, his voice curious. Hermione looked away from them to look out her window. "One usually doesn't see the Head of the Malfoy family drag someone out of a house bodily and set a curse up so that he can't enter ever again" was Harry's contribution.

Hermione sighed, but answered in a rush. "Arthur Weasley wanted to talk to me, but I didn't want to talk to him, so I tried to leave, but he tried to grab me and get me to stay, so I ran away and you're fathers room was the first one I got to." Harry and Draco went pale, they were so angry. Draco said, in a relatively calm voice, "I gather my father took care of it?" Hermione nodded.

She really didn't want them to go on a rampage, but they looked ready to find Arthur and murder him. "Its fine- he can't get back in here." Harry just looked at her like she was an idiot and said "Well, what about when you're _not_ here? What will you do then?"

They looked at her expectantly. "I don't know. Can we cross that road when we get to it, please? I'm tired; it's been a stressful day." They apologized for keeping her up, and proceeded to climb under the covers with her, Draco on the left, and Harry on the right. "What do you think you're _doing?" _Hermione asked, amused. She knew what they were doing, but it would be bad if Sirius or Remus came in here at some point tonight to check on her and found them like this.

"We're going to stay with you and protect you." Harry answered. "Draco seconded this with a "Yeah." They were both curled up next to her, pushing into her side, and almost sound asleep already. "Yeah, you're going to protect me. You just don't want to have to warm up your own beds." She laughed, and snuggled down to cuddle with her puppies. That is what they were like, really. Over- eager, over- protective puppies. She didn't mind, however. If she got a cold spell in the middle of the night, she had two instant heat sources available to her. She squirmed down so she was well under the covers, and let out her tension with a long sigh. They were right; she did feel better with them near her. She felt safe.

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A/N: See? I told you chapter 2 would be up shortly. Hehehe. I like this chapter.

Netrixie

P.S.- please review


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: As usual, it's all J.K.'s.

A/N: In _my_ Wizarding World, they live to be anywhere from 175- 215 years of age; 215 being the extreme, of course. So in my story, Lucius is 43, so he looks like he's about 29 or 30. And he'll stay that way for about another century before he really starts aging. Don't worry- Hermione looks like she's 18. Urm, so yeah, that's it.

A/N: for my "Coming Back": Readers: Coming Back II won't be up until well after the New Year- finals are killing me. So, look for it around January 15th - 20th, and if it's not up by then, flame me all you want. I promise to try and post it well before then…promise.

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Previously-

The secretary looked up at Rufus in shock. "Are you really going to do this?" she asked, horrified. He nodded, looking out the window all the while. "I need to, there are basically _no_ Wizards left in England after the war. They will understand." The secretary felt the need to tell the Minister the repercussions of such an act. "You will have to be removed from office; the populace will be incensed at you for going through with this act."

"If that does happen, what is there that I can do about it? But it _will_ be done, be sure of that. And don't forget to curse the letters so that they have to do it." The secretary privately thought that the Minister had gone around the bend, but she didn't want to lose her job; even though she too would be affected. Good thing her boyfriend had been giving her a stream of not- so- subtle hints about a more committed relationship recently. It made doing this that much easier. "The letters will be sent out today, sir." She said respectfully before returning to her desk.

Quickly, she sent an owl to her boyfriend asking him if he was serious about taking things to the next level. She wanted to be secure, after all.

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The next morning did not start out very promising. Remus had apparently come in to check on her in the morning after finding that Harry wasn't in his bed, and that Draco wasn't in the guest room. Upon finding the three of them in Hermione's bed all curled up like puppies, he'd asked "Why is the gruesome twosome in the same bed as Hermione Granger?" That had woken Harry and Hermione up, and Harry had said, "It's none of your business, Remus." And the he had gone right back to sleep. Draco hadn't even bothered waking up to answer the question, but instead just snuggled closer into her side.

Hermione looked at Remus with a pitiful expression on her face before answering, "They wanted to _protect _me, but they ended up stealing the covers instead. And I haven't been able to move _all night_." Her expression didn't work on Remus, he just smiled and said "It's your fault for letting the sad- puppy- dog faces get to you." He went to close the door, but remembered something and stuck his head back inside. "The meeting is starting at ten, so be sure to be awake and showered by then. And Lucius is going to get here a little early." He shut the door quietly and went back to his own bed.

Hermione sighed, and cast _Tempus_ to see what time it was. It was only 6:30, so she went back to sleep, rejoicing in the fact that she hadn't had (or noticed) a cold spell all night.

By nine thirty, Hermione had managed to drag the boys out of her bed and throw them in the shower after she finished hers. By ten they were all downstairs and ready (almost) to face the new day. True to his word, Lucius showed up at a quarter to and ate breakfast with them. He was also there to ostensibly check his ward to make sure that Arthur Weasley still couldn't enter. It was still good. When a Malfoy cast a ward, it stayed there until it was told to leave.

The meeting started the same as yesterday, with the Weasley's showing up late. Arthur had still managed to believe that the ward would be down, but had underestimated Lucius' magic. He left after a silencing spell had been placed on him. The same members from the day before were present, and they all sat in basically the same order. By noon, most of the urgent matters had been solved, and they took an hour and a half break for lunch. It was still only Draco, Harry, Hermione, Sirius, Remus, and Lucius that stayed in Number 12 Grimmauld place, but this time they swept the house for intruders before disappearing. Hermione locked herself in her room, and Lucius settled himself on the couch in front of the Floo- fireplace.

They all ate lunch separately, except for the couples, and were waiting for the other members to return about an hour later when they started getting the letters. Draco and Harry were otherwise occupied when their letters arrived, and stopped for a moment to read the letter when they saw it was from the Ministry.

The words '_Marriage Law'_ and '_mandatory' _caught their eyes before they skimmed down the two lists provided. When they saw their names on the list, Draco pulled out of Harry and rolled him over to cup his face. "Will you marry me?" he asked softly. His answer was a whispered "Yes," and a soft kiss on the lips. The letters fell to the floor, forgotten.

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Sirius and Remus were also so occupied, and they didn't even read the letter before asking the question to the other at the same time. Their informant in the Ministry had told them that such a thing might happen, so they were prepared. They laughed at each other, and they both answered "Yes".

They didn't think that others in the house would be affected also.

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Hermione was sitting in her room reading the book "Occupations of the Damned" by Daemon Burns. It was a Wizarding Treatise on the Dark Magic's, and how and why a practitioner of them became proscribed. It was fairly interesting, and Hermione was well into it when the letter dropped onto her lap. Frowning slightly, she put the book down to look at the letter. With the first words, she was horrified.

_Dear Ms. Hermione Granger,_

_  
In accordance to Wizarding Law Number 146- 50, section A19, article 23.7, the Minister of Magic, one Rufus Scrimgeour, has applied the Wizarding Marriage Law, as is his right as Minister._

_In order to fully explain this Act, the following information is provided._

· _All pure- blood Wizards of a Marriageable Status are listed on the left hand side of the page._

· _All Wizards of half- or Muggle- born status are listed on right hand side of the page_.

· _Each Witch or Wizard listed must marry someone from the opposite side of the list_.

· _The Witch's and Wizards included are those of a child- bearing age, and unattached. This is a mandatory Law- all must obey it._

_The only exception is if a person is already promised to someone else._

_Thank you,_

_Sincerely_

_Rufus J. Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic_

-_Attached please find the two lists. After you have found a partner, the date, time, and place of your marriage will appear at the bottom of this letter._

Hermione was dumbfounded. _This is ludicrous!_ _I'm not old enough to get married! _She flipped the page over to find the list, and sure enough, her name was listed on the Muggle- born side of the page. She was bemused to see that Harry, Draco, Sirius, and Remus were already crossed off. As she watched, other names started getting crossed off, as if by an invisible hand. She watched in horror as Fred, George, Charlie, and Neville were crossed off. Those were really the only men she'd ever thought about dating, let alone marrying! Even Gregory Goyle was crossed off!

She threw the book off of her lap and opened the door, looking for anyone who could tell her this was a just horrible prank. As she was looking through the house, a letter tapped her on the shoulder. It was addressed to Hermione Granger and when she opened it, it read, _Hermione, please will you marry me. _It was signed Terence Higgs.

Hermione said "No!" and threw the letter away from her like it was on fire. Three more letters appeared and she guessed they said the same thing. She just kept saying "NO, no, no!" and when they 'heard' her say this, they combusted, like they had had an _Incendio_ placed on them.

She ran into the sitting room and closed the door, leaning her head against it in relief, before she noticed the other occupant of the room. He lifted his head from the parchment in his hand, and said "Trouble, Ms. Granger?"

She came over to him and plunked down on the couch next to him. "I got this letter from the Ministry, and now I've got random letters following me! And they won't leave me alone!" turning, she said "No" to the letter that had just appeared over her shoulder. "I don't understand how Rufus- that- _fucking_- dufus- could think that he could get away with this!"

"Do not think you are the only one to be plagued with trouble from the Ministry." Lucius said, and tilted the parchment in his hand slightly so that she could see the writing on it. It started the same as hers, only addressed to Mr. Lucius Malfoy. Hermione looked at him, horrified. He was a _Malfoy_! But it seemed that even he wasn't exempt from the dastardly tactics of the Ministry. "They want you to get married, too?" He chuckled softly, so that Hermione wasn't even sure she'd heard him. "They want more than that- they want the Malfoy Family to bow to their rule. But that will not happen, even though I have to follow through with this idiotic plan."

"But why do we have to follow it? Other than the fact that we will probably be arrested if we don't." Hermione asked, interested in this facet of the law even though it was a detriment to her, personally. While waiting for Lucius to answer, she had to incinerate seven more notes. When he answered, his voice was heavy.

"I would not normally obey this… thing... from the Ministry, but they've placed a curse on it that was meant to ensnare people like me. It's the _Readitus Imperio _- it makes you have to obey the words written on the piece of parchment you are holding. No doubt it is also on your letter. It is one of the Unlisted Unforgivables." Hermione took her wand out of her pocket and cast a spell to see if there were any curses on the paper. And, as Lucius had said, the curse was there.

She sat back on the couch and sighed. "Well, what'll we do? I don't want to be married to someone for the rest of my life if I don't have any respect for them. And all the ones that I do respect have already been taken." She pointed to her list to demonstrate her point.

Lucius was quiet. A thought had come to him, but he wasn't sure how Hermione would take it. He turned towards her in a manner that in anyone else would have been called 'hesitant' in anyone less and said, "I believe that I have a solution to both of our problems." He waited for her to look at him in interest before continuing. "The Ministry is determined to get the Wizarding World to heal its fractures- I do not think that this is the correct way to accomplish that fact, but my opinion is manifestly not taken into account in this matter. In any case, I have an idea." He stopped. Hermione, really interested now, urged him on. "What is it?" she asked.

Lucius turned to look at her for a few moments before saying "Do you respect me?" Startled, Hermione told the truth. "Of course. I wouldn't have had you teach me, otherwise." He paused before saying, "What do you think a marriage should be?" Hermione took her time answering. She thought she had an idea as to what he was about to propose, but she didn't want to turn him away. So she decided to just go with the truth. It was easier, anyway.

"I think that a marriage should be based on mutual respect, if love cannot be a part of it. I think that that would be better than a marriage where there is no respect or even friendship between the two partners. I also think that marriage should be a partnership of a sort." She stopped before she could make a fool of herself.

When Lucius turned to look at her again (he'd looked away during her answer), he placed his parchment gently on the table next to him, and leaned forward so that he could look into her eyes. "Will you marry me?" he asked. Hermione took a deep breath, and answered "Yes." They watched as their names were crossed of the list, one of the last ones.

There was a silence as they contemplated what they had just done. It was irrevocable, if the curse on the paper was any indication. Hermione looked to Lucius suddenly and asked "Are you going to keep you letter?" He answered "Yes, I am. Why?" Hermione replied "Because the date and time of the wedding is going to appear on the bottom of it." Lucius wondered why she was telling him this. "I am aware of that fact, Ms. Granger." She flushed lightly, and said "well, I wanted to do something, but another thought just crossed my mind." He waited for her to continue. When she did, he agreed immediately. "Shouldn't we call each other by our first names now, since we're going to be married and all?"

"A good thought, Hermione. One that it is good you had." Hermione smile slightly. Being praised by him was like being praised by the teacher that didn't compliment any one. Remembering what she'd wanted to ask him earlier, she said "I wanted to rip up my letter, and I wanted to make sure that we kept one so that we knew where to go." Lucius raised one of his aristocratic eyes at her. "Is ripping an offending piece of parchment into tiny pieces therapeutic for you?" he asked, rather interested in her answer.

"Well, yeah, actually. It started in third year when Snape would rip me a new one while grading my papers. So, yeah, I guess it is therapeutic." He though that over for a minute before asking gently "You do know that Severus Snape is one of my dearest friends, and that after our marriage, you will be seeing quite a lot of him?" Hermione glanced up at him swiftly. "Oh, that's fine. I got over it a long time ago." Lucius allowed a small smile to grace his face, and said "Then by all means, go and rip your paper."

She went and sat in front of the fire and ripped her paper very methodically. First in quarters lengthwise, then in little squares along each strip. Lucius watched her in mild amusement, occasionally looking down to his paper to see if there was any note.

A few minutes' later people started arriving, by the noise at the front door. Neither Lucius nor Hermione bestirred themselves to move from their positions. Hermione was still ripping her paper, and Lucius was not in the mood to be polite, so he stayed where he was. Besides, it was far more interesting to watch his affianced shred parchment that deal with the fools that inhabited this house.

Draco and Harry barreled into the sitting room a moment later, saying "Hey, we've been looking for you- we got this letter, and now we're engaged!" Harry stopped what he was about to say after that when he saw Hermione shredding the paper. With a quick glance at Draco, they both dived for the letter they carried and blanched when they saw Hermione's name crossed off. "Um, Hermione?' Harry asked, very gently. They'd seen her in this mood before, usually when she was so pissed that she could kill something.

Lucius looked on in amusement. The two boys had been so excited at first that they hadn't even noticed him in the room. Then when they caught on to what Hermione was doing, they'd gone very quiet and respectful, like they were treading on dangerous ground. They still hadn't noticed him when Draco asked gently "Hermione, what's wrong?" Lucius had never seen his son so meek before. It was faintly astonishing that this witch could have so much control over the Heir to the Malfoy fortune without even acknowledging his presence. _That may not be a bad thing when she has to be his step- mother_ he thought.

The drama before him continued unfolding. Hermione looked over her shoulder at them and said, brightly "I'm getting married". The boys shifted. They knew this already. What they wanted to know was to_ whom_ she was getting married. So they asked. "Urm, to who, 'Mione?" She finished her shredding and turned to face the boys fully. "Oh, Draco, you're going to like this." She said, before seeing that the door was open and that Sirius and Remus were standing at the door. She stood, brushed her knees off very deliberately, and headed over to the couch. When she got to where Lucius was sitting, watching this play- out, she turned to Draco and said, "I'm going to be your step- mother." And sat down right next to Lucius.

Inside, Lucius was giving her a standing ovation. _This girl has the guts to be a Malfoy, indeed, _he thought, and taking in the dog and wolfs faces. It was priceless; he wished he had a camera. By this time, the house was filling up with voices wondering where everyone was, and what was going on. They found the six of them in the sitting room, no one having moved a muscle. Immediately, Dumbledore wanted to know what was going on. And Lucius was glad to answer for him. "The Ministry has passed the Marriage Law, Albus. So be prepared for an influx of squalling brats to teach in 11 years."


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **it's all, as always, J.K.'s

**Title: **Learning to be a Malfoy

**A/N: **Below

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Dumbledore looked at the six people occupying the sitting room and paled. There were only three possible combinations that could have occurred, and he was sure that Hermione and Lucius were engaged. Especially given how close they were sitting to each other.

Even as Albus thought this, Lucius glanced down at his letter and raised an eyebrow. "Ah, Hermione. It appears that we have been summoned to the Ministry for a two o'clock appointment. We should begin getting ready."

Hermione nodded, and stood. "Draco, Harry- do you know when your appointment is?" she asked, totally ignoring the fact that the rest of the Order was watching the drama unfolding with the same expression that watching a house of cards collapse evinces. The boys looked to their letter for the information, and glanced up in surprise.

"Two ten. How fast are they going to marry us?" Harry asked wonderingly, and Remus snorted.

"They want us to get married legally as fast as they can before we decide to create an uprising." The others nodded. That made a fair amount of sense, given what Hermione knew about Magical politics.

A voice from behind Dumbledore made every head turn. "So we are all getting married, I assume?" Severus asked in a politely inquiring voice. Hermione nodded, lips pursed.

Severus surveyed her reaction and looked to Lucius. "And who, may I ask, is going to be the next Lady Malfoy?" Lucius smirked, the first such expression on his face in a long time, and Severus felt his stomach clench.

"Ms. Granger has done me the honor of accepting my hand in marriage, Severus. And may I return the favour?"

Severus grimaced as a too-cheerful voice called from behind him, "I'm going to be marrying Severus!" A mop of brilliant fuchsia hair peered around the dour man's side. The looks that greeted this sight were exponentially more amusing than the looks that had greeted Hermione and Lucius' announcement.

A raised eyebrow was all the reaction Lucius gave, however, and he stood, offering his arm to Hermione. "Shall we, Hermione?" As she placed her hand on his arm, feeling like this was more a masquerade than an actual happenstance, they walked over to the Floo and began their preparations for leaving. Draco, Harry, Severus, Tonks, Sirius, and Remus also lined up along the fireplace, getting ready to Floo to the Ministry.

Albus watched as most of his Order members prepared to get married, and sighed as he admitted to himself that no other business would be accomplished today.

Hermione and Lucius went through the Floo first, Lucius calling out "Ministry Lobby!" as they stepped into the emerald flames.

They emerged in the lobby, and brushed off their clothing as they waited for the others. As they came through two by two, Lucius asked Hermione if it would be permissible for him to step out for a minute, and meet her in the waiting room that the couples were to use.

Nodding, Hermione watched as he walked away with a faint frown on her face before turning to the others and grinning at the state of Tonks' clothing.

* * *

Lucius arrived in the waiting room about fifteen minutes later, ten before they were supposed to be called. He gestured for Hermione to follow him, and they walked off to the side of the room, standing so that a huge fern hid them from the others view.

"Hermione," Lucius began, "The Ministry is apparently offering another choice for the couples brought together by their Marriage Law. Instead of the life-long partnership that is what they would have originally planned, they are offering a ten-year contract, to expire after the ten years or the birth of the third child, which ever comes first." he paused looking into her eyes, and added, "I want to give you the choice."

Hermione listened, shocked. She had thought that she would be bound to him in the traditional Wizarding Marriage- the life-long commitment that Lucius had just brought up. But here was another option- one that would allow her to regain control of her own life after a mere ten years. But she wasn't sure what she should do.

Take the ten years and be grateful that it isn't longer, or go with the life-commitment and the knowledge that she would probably never find another man who she respected as much, or could even like as much as she liked and respected Lucius.

"I'll take the long-term commitment, it it's all the same," she answered slowly, and Lucius nodded. He had been hoping she would say that.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring- a silver band that displayed a gorgeous diamond to it's full advantage. He took a breath.

"Will you marry me?" he asked, praying silently that she would not laugh.

But his fears were in vain, because Hermione looked from the ring to his eyes, and said solemnly, "Yes." They both watched him slide the ring onto her finger, and stayed in that position until they were called.

"Lord Malfoy and partner, please come forward."

The entire room seemed to hold its breath. Most had forgotten that Narcissa Malfoy had been murdered by Voldemort. They waited anxiously to see who he would bring forward.

It was with a certain sense of satisfaction that Hermione and Lucius walked forward, dismissing the surprised glances of the rooms inhabitants. They would get used to it in time.

Entering the room, Hermione was surprised to see that Rufus Scrimgeour was there._ Probably to make sure that Lucius actually takes a wife and doesn't try to weasel his way out of it,_ she thought snidely, and promptly ignored the Minister.

Lucius smiled as he watched his soon-to-be-wife. _Ignoring the Minister like a true Malfoy already_, he thought proudly, and immediately followed his own advice. Rufus just watched, knowing better than to try and start a conversation with the one who hated him so much.

The officiator began. "These vows will be short and to the point, as we have well over two hundred other couples to marry today. That being said, are you doing the traditional wedding, or the ten year plan?"

"Traditional, please," Lucius said smoothly as he felt Hermione tense with what he assumed was anger.

"Very well then. Do you, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, take this woman, Hermione Jane Granger, as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to protect and defend, till death do you part?"

"I do." His voice was calm and self-assured, and it succeeded in calming Hermione.

"Do you, Hermione Jane Granger, take this man, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to obey and respect, till death do you part?"

"I do." She was surprised by how steady her voice was.

"Then exchange rings."

Hermione glanced at Lucius, horrified. How could she have forgotten something so integral to a marriage? But he merely reached into his pocket once again and pulled out two more rings, and handed one to Hermione.

She slipped it onto his finger, and he put his onto hers, pushing it right up to the engagement ring that already adorned her hand.

"You may kiss the bride."

Hermione stilled, remembering the last time someone had tried to kiss her, and looked up at Lucius with wide-eyes. He bent down and pressed a kiss to her cheek before she had time to react, and squeezed the hand he still held reassuringly. The officiate held out a piece of parchment for them to sign, and it was over.

She breathed a sigh of relief as they were dismissed, and walked out into the waiting area. Draco and Harry were gone, and for the first time Hermione noted the existence of three other doors, all either permitting or releasing couples. Severus and Tonks were already seated on a couch, watching the proceedings with amusement on their faces.

"What is so funny, Severus?" Lucius asked as he and Hermione came and halted before them.

Severus smirked as Tonks answered. "It's great watching all the people going in and then coming back out like they've just survived an encounter with the Loch Ness Monster." she said, and Hermione laughed even as she grimaced a little. Tonks had very little tact.

"So, Tonks. We can't call you that anymore, Mrs. Snape, so are we calling you Dora, or what?" Hermione asked teasingly, and Tonks shrugged.

"I honestly haven't thought about that, Hermione. I guess everyone will come up with one name or another that they decide to call me." Hermione laughed for real this time. This was just an indication of how little Tonks cared for society.

"I guess we're just going to keep calling you 'Tonks', then?" Hermione asked, and grinned as Tonks nodded her head emphatically.

"It's as good a name as any, I guess. And you'd better spread it around before I start getting called 'Snape'." Everyone laughed that time, and Harry and Draco came over, brilliant grins lighting their faces.

"Hey guys!" Harry's exuberant greeting caused four eyebrows to raise, but he ignored them studiously. "You shoulda seen their faces when me n' Draco walked in!"

Draco agreed. "Yeah, it was pretty pathetic. Kept calling us 'Mr. Potter' and 'Mr. Malfoy' and 'Sir' until I thought I was going to explode from the ass-kissing."

Every one had a chuckle that time, and Lucius asked with his eyebrow still raised, "And what last name did you decide on?"

Harry answered. "We're Mr. and Mr. Malfoy now, Mr. Malfoy. But since we figure that at some point you and Herm are going to give Draco siblings, we'd call our children Potter."

Lucius was the only one who noticed Hermione stiffen, as everyone else was still laughing at the younger couple. He resolved to tell her as soon as they were alone that he didn't expect any of the more traditional duties of the wife any time soon.

Once Sirius and Remus had joined the gathering, Lucius invited everyone over to his house for some 'after-marriage drinks' as he put it, and went ahead to get everything ready as everyone agreed readily enough. Hermione was forced into conversations with Draco, Harry, and Tonks as they made their way out to the Floo- fireplaces, and stood on the line.

"Hey! Hermione!" a voice from their left called, and they swung around, surprised to see Ginny coming over to them dragging a sullen Gregory Goyle behind her. "Hi guys!" she said as she came to a halt next to them, and added, "How are all of you?"

"Hey Ginny! We're good. Are you and Goyle married now?" Harry asked, and Ginny nodded as she held out her hand.

"You're looking at Mrs. Gregory Goyle," she proclaimed, and Goyle stood next to her silently. "Greg and I had been dating for like six months when we got the letter." she explained as Harry shot her a questioning glance.

Draco held out his hand to Greg, and said, "Congratulation, Greg. Though how you're planning on living with this hellion for the rest of your life, I'll never know." Ginny huffed indignantly, but Greg relaxed as he realized his wife's friends weren't going to ostracize him.

They continued talking- mainly on the subject of how Ginny could have hidden her relationship from her friends while they were still in school- and saw to their astonishment Fred and George walking over to them with Angela Johnson and Luna Lovegood attached to their arms, respectively.

It was quite the group that was waiting for a Floo to open up, and Hermione jumped as Draco nudged her. "Aren't you going to invite them to the Manor, 'Mione?" he asked in a low voice as the others continued talking.

Hermione stared at him- she'd never even seen the inside of the Manor, and told Draco so. "I've never even been in the Manor, I've been married to your father for a grand total of twenty minutes, and I don't even know if he'd want me to invite these people!"

Draco looked at her as if she were crazy, then gave up and explained the things that were clear- to him. "You're Mrs. Lucius Malfoy now, Hermione. The Manor is yours, even though you've never seen it. And father would be more than happy to have his house full on a night like this, when everyone is in a rage against the Ministry, and he'd rather you invite people you know than ones you didn't."

Hermione kept staring at him, and he sighed. But he never got the chance to continue his explanation of the rules to her, because Ginny caught Hermione's hand and stared at the rings adorning it.

"Hey Hermione," she began, "You didn't tell us who you've married." And Hermione realized that while she and Draco were talking the others must have done just that. She looked at Ginny, and smiled wanly.

"Well, you're all looking at the new Mrs. Malfoy." The reaction was not what she had expected. Ginny shook her head slowly.

"Draco and Harry are already married. What do you mean, 'Mrs. Malfoy'?"

Draco butted in, exasperated. "'Mrs. Malfoy'. As in 'Mrs. Lucius Malfoy'. As in 'my step-mother'."

_Ah,_ Hermione thought as the group of her one-time fellow students gaped in shock, _that was the reaction I was expecting._ Draco apparently agreed, from the look on his face. Then all at once everyone began talking, wondering what exactly had made Hermione agree to marry the elder Lord Malfoy. But as they spoke, a Floo opened up, and Hermione glanced at Draco to see if he meant it about inviting everyone.

Draco nodded as Severus, Tonks, Sirius and Remus took the Floo to the Manor, and Hermione turned to look at the rest of her group. "Do you guys want to come to the Manor with us for some drinks?"

They all looked at Draco first, questioning him with their eyes, but he just watched them, daring them to believe Hermione. Finally everyone agreed, and they stepped into the Floo, Draco crying out "Malfoy Manor" as they went.

Upon their arrival, Hermione staggered away from the group, sneezing on the dust that so many Floo-ing all at once kicked up. She felt a hand grasp her elbow as she continued sneezing, and leaned on the form she recognized as Lucius while she waited for the sneezes to stop. She could vaguely hear the others having the same reaction, and smiled to herself even as another sneeze rocked through her body. At least she wasn't the only one.

Once they had, she looked up at her husband and smiled, saying "Thank you, Lucius," before stepping away and dusting off her clothes. Once everyone else had calmed their sinuses, Lucius greeted everyone.

"Thank you all for coming. The house elf will take care of your things until your ready for them. When you are finished, follow me."

As he spoke three house elves appeared, waiting to accept the light jackets and bags the others had with them. One came up to Hermione and introduced itself.

"I is being called Indy, Mistress, and I is going to be taking care of you. Mistress will please give Indy her jacket so Indy can take care of it." Hermione stared at the little creature, trying not to remember her S.P.E.W. days. But they were long past, as she really hadn't had the time to care about it in recent years, so she just took the creatures advice.

Shrugging off her jacket to let Indy take it, she noticed as she did so that her friends- those who hadn't believed she had married Lucius- were looking on in shock. Hermione hid a smile as the house elf disappeared with a _crack! I see it takes a House Elf to get them to believe me_, she mused as she moved over to stand by Tonks.

Once everyone was ready Lucius asked them all to follow him. Hermione walked along with the rest of the group, and stood in shock as she came into the hallway. When they had appeared in the Floo room, she had noticed the surroundings, sure. Nothing spectacular, and she had mistakenly assumed that the rest of the house would be like that.

But as she stood in the hallway, she realized the foolishness of that assumption. This was a Malfoy she had married, and though their Floo room might be common in order to save the good furniture from the dust of a Floo-travel, the rest of the house was opulent.

Hermione started as a hand came down on her shoulder. Spinning around, she found herself face-to-face with her husband. "It is a little much to take in at first, isn't it?" he asked softly, and chuckled as her eyes widened.

"Are you kidding me?" she responded, shocked still. "I'm sure Buckingham Palace isn't as lavishly decorated as this!" And it was only the truth. The carpet under her feet was a deep, rich emerald, the walls painted a lighter yet matching shade. The crown molding was gilded, the portraits were framed in solid gold (and staring at her, but she refused to allow that to creep her out), and even the random chairs that dotted the hallway were some of the most beautiful works of art Hermione had ever seen.

She turned to look back at Lucius. He stared down at her, then removed his hand from her shoulder and offered it to her. "Shall we rejoin the others?" he asked politely, and Hermione nodded as she took his hand.

Lucius tucked the smaller hand into the crook of his arm and began leading her down the hallway, pointing out as he did so some of his family members. It seemed that the Floo room let out into the Hall of Portraits, and Lucius explained as they walked.

"They like to know when important people arrive. Of course, they also like to intimidate the important people, and usually they have some plan or another in place to implement. The only reason our guests are passing through in peace is because I have informed them all of the recent passing of the Marriage Law, and they wished to know who I would be marrying."

Lucius stopped in front of a huge portrait with a frame that extended from floor to ceiling. "This is my Great-Grandfather forty five times Horatio Malfoy." Hermione, even as her eyebrows flew into her hairline at the evidence of the longevity of the Malfoy line, nodded to the portrait. The portrait studied her even as she studied it.

The man was tall, taller than Lucius, and wearing what seemed to be a Military uniform with his horse standing in the background. He seemed nice enough, from appearances, and Hermione smiled nervously at him. He humph'd, and turned to Lucius.

"This is your wife?" Lucius nodded. Horatio went on. "She's not like the others. No- they would have never married a brunette." Hermione stiffened, and Lucius patted her hand. "But she seems good enough, sturdy, intelligent." Horatio studied her further. "Yes. I like her. She seems much more pleasant than that female who used to live here."

Hermione was a little confused- that other female? Did Horatio mean Narcissa? But before she could even look at Lucius to ask Horatio was talking to her.

"Don't be shy, girl," he chivvied, and asked, "What is your name, hmm? How old are you? What job do you have?"

After an encouraging look from Lucius, Hermione said, "My name's Hermione-"

"Good. Good, sensible name. I like it." Horatio didn't even seem to realize he'd interrupted her, and Hermione took a breath as she went on.

"I've just turned 18-"

"A nice age. I remember being 18. A good time."

"And as of yet I do not have a job but-"

"Well, good. You don't need a job. You're a Malfoy now, girl. Remember that." Horatio turned away from Hermione's bemused face and looked back at Lucius. "You may keep her, boy. And Hermione," he added as he turned to the brunette, "Do come and visit every now and again, hmmm? Keep in touch with your past, and all that?"

Horatio turned away, and walked over to his horse. Swinging up on it, he looked back at them and frowned. "Why are you still here? Don't you have a party to attend? Lord knows what those heathens are doing to my house." With that he turned and galloped away, leaving the two Malfoy's alone in the corridor.

Lucius steered a still bemused Hermione towards the end of the hallway. "He's right, you know. We do have a party to host."

* * *

_-hides behind computer screen-_

_Um... hi? please don't kill me... i know you all thought i'd died, or had a prolonged stay in the Hospital, but...no. Just haven't had the creative juices for this flowing... but its back now..._

_I'm so sorry it has been so long... it will NEVER be that long agin, i SWEAR. So, the next chapter won't be up for another week, but i promise I'll try to update regularly._

_...sorry again. And, as an aside- i'm editing the first four chapters now, and fixing them up a bit. So you might want to check them out in a few days._

_okay- i'm going to crawl back to my laptop and start typing some more, so you'll see me soon, i hope._

_Ta!_


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